Spread a little happiness with a Rosh Ha’Shana competition
Making the desert bloom.
All you have to do is to take a look at the charities listed below – all of which appear on the JGooders web site, and choose which one you think should get the money. Then tell us why – in no more than 50 words, and post your suggestion in the comments on this story, with your email address attached.
We’ll choose a winner on Monday next week, and then send the gift token on to you to give to one of the JGooders charities. This is your chance to spread a little happiness this holiday season.
The Nalaga’at Theater provides deaf and blind actors with the opportunity to achieve artistic expression and create awareness and acceptance of the deaf-blind in Israeli society.
100 Ethiopian-Israeli Engineers by 2014
The project is raising engineering college enrollment for young men and women from the Ethiopian Israeli community, to secure their place and success in academic engineering degrees and future careers in Israel.
Make the Desert Bloom – Student Scholarships
The project’s goal is to match government funding for 300 student scholarships of students who live in the Negev. Ayalim students live in the development towns of the Negev and volunteer in the community, with the purpose of building their permanent home in these areas.
Green Processes Center
The Green Process Center’s aim is to lead the assimilation of sustainability in Israel. The center includes research in Green Engineering, Green Chemistry and Clean Technology, and various academic and community programs.
First Hug received the 2009 Presidential award for volunteerism for providing small, permanent volunteer teams for each child during the time they are hospitalized, providing warmth, love and a homely environment.
Galilee Circus
The circus was set up to create a harmonious family of Jewish and Arab children who learn circus skills and work together as a troupe, bringing the message of peace and coexistence to audiences.
Around the Clock Family Project
Shanti House`s main goal is to absorb 100% of Israel`s run-away and homeless youths.
NATAL’s Social Therapeutic Club
The club aims to empower trauma victims to reintegrate into the Israeli community.
Entrepreneurial
Filed under: Business, General, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness
I often think that Israelis, and Israeli immigrants in particular — those of us that have made their lives here — are an enterprising lot. I’m not just talking about the high-tech heroes and business brains that have put Israel on the global village map, but the many individuals who open their own businesses, becoming independent contractors who want to control their own professional destiny and bank account.
Sure, part of it has to do with earning some more shekels, as many professions in this land are not well paid and are nowhere near the U.S. scale, even in these economically trying times. But no matter the reason, the results are often very creative.
Take my friend, Moshe, for example. He just launched Midnight Cycling Through Jerusalem, three-four hour tours, starting at midnight, through the streets and alleyways of Jerusalem. He’s done a few of them so far, isn’t so certain about the prices — but can tell you that he’s getting more than a few phone calls for his Hol Hamoed Sukkot rides. You can also rent bikes and helmets through Moshe, if needed.
He’s far from the only one. Just off the top of my head, I’m thinking about JewButt by Beverly, the Dinah Project by another Beverly and not exactly a business but a wiki, SiddurWiki.com, by friend Brian.
There’ll be more to come, but if you want to take a midnight bike ride around Jerusalem, contact Moshe, tour guide and teacher.
Saying goodbye to Asaf Ramon
Happier times: Asaf and Rona Rimon at his graduation ceremony this summer. Photo by Dudu Greenspan/Flash 90.
No death in the Israeli army is ever taken lightly. This is a place where every father, son, brother, cousin or boyfriend has to serve, but the tragedy of this death, coming just a few years after his father’s, was apparent to all.
In February 2003, an intifada-scarred Israel watched with pride as Ilan Ramon became the first Israeli in space. His progress on the US shuttle Columbia, his reports back home, gave Israel a ray of hope in what was frankly an awful time. Even kids in kindergarten knew of his accomplishments and spoke about him as if he were a national hero.
On re-entry into earth’s atmosphere, the shuttle broke up and Ramon and the rest of the crew were all killed. All that remained of Ramon were a few pages of his diary , which were found two months later in a field – ironically, in the town of Palestine in Texas.
Asaf Ramon was 15 when his father died. He decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, and vowed that one day he too would go into space.
Like his father before him he was a top student, and he completed his flight-training course in the IAF as the best cadet in his class. In his passing out ceremony in July, President Peres gave him his wings.
We still don’t know what happened, or why Asaf Ramon crashed. He was flying at 720km an hour when he lost control of the plane near the Hebron Hills. Was it technical error or pilot error? What is clear is that in Israel this isn’t the personal tragedy of one family, it’s a tragedy for all.
The tributes are pouring in on blog sites everywhere, from Diamond Pilots, which carries a full story of the crash , to Dvir Reznik, who writes on his blog :
“Asaf – I hope you’ll find joy and peace where ever you are, watching over us from high in the clouds, reunited with your father.”
On NASA Watch, readers discuss in awe how a 20-year-old could be flying an F-16.
Unsurprisingly, Ramon’s death has opened up the whole painful argument of whether Israel should allow combat service by sons of bereaved families. At present it requires written consent by the mother, a less than ideal solution as any pressurized mother can vouch.
Back at my home all I could think of was what Rona Ramon went through when officers from the IAF knocked on her door for the second time in six years with the very worst kind of news.
It must be Rosh Hashana time
Filed under: A New Reality, Blogging, General, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness
It must be getting close to Rosh Hashana, because Benji Lovitt over at What War Zone? has posted his annual wacky Rosh Hashana video.
No matter what bad news keeps coming down the pike, from Iranian nuclear capability getting closer to the awful tragedy of the Ramon family, watching earnest Israelis trying to explain the Rosh Hashana custom of eating fish heads to a perplexed Lovitt is sure to put a smile on anyone’s face.
Lovitt, a stand up comedian by profession, did his bit on Sunday at the Second International Jewish Bloggers Convention in Jerusalem, attended by 300 bloggers.
The Nefesh B’Nefesh-organized conference, titled “Uniting the Jewish Community through Social Media,” included eight workshops followed by two panel discussions aimed at advancing Jewish, Zionist and charitable causes.
And it’s evident that one of the best ways to do so is through humor. Laughing at ourselves and allowing others to laugh along, can go a long way to creating an affinity for Israel, or at least let us see things through a little less intense lens that we’re normally viewed around the world.
So enjoy, the clip and let’s all look for the big ball to drop at Rabin Square at midnight on the Jewish New Year.
Nostalgia Sunday – Old/New Cards for the New Year
Filed under: Art, General, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture
Israelis love their nostalgia and nowhere is that more evident than the Jewish New Year.
There’s something about starting a new year that brings out the child in us…
Perhaps our wishes for health, prosperity and peace will not be in vain and will this year be granted…
…as we look forward… and never backwards…
…in the hopeful belief that this time, this year, things will be different!
That last image – new and nostalgia-inspired rather than actually old — was created by graphic designer Yael Bar, a member of the Israeli Community of Designers who this past Friday held a New Year’s greeting card event at the Israel Cartoon Museum in Holon. More images from that event — and of their work — can be found here.
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